The walks begin

 Walking it is.....

 

I try and walk everyday for 10 months a year and during the hot summer months I swim. 

My walking friends😁

 

 

Exercise for me is the very best way to keep my figure reasonably trim and also with a sensible diet. It also makes me feel good! That is what has always worked for me, of course that would have been during a normal year ! The crunch to my routine came in mid March when the lockdown was declared and we all had to isolate ourselves at home. By the end  of March I decided I had to do something even though I still had to stay isolated so I started my Corridor Walk ;walking briskly up and down my hallway for an hour approx each evening. Incredibly boring but I was at least moving my legs.                                                    I think Sr P thought I had a screw loose!!   

 I posted my progress on my Facebook page:

 

and then we were released..that was towards the end of June...and the summer was underway...and it was hot.....too hot to walk!!    Normally I would have taken to the swimming pool and the beaches as I usually do and love doing but we weren't allowed to use the community or public swimming pools! We were not allowed to use the beaches either as they were closed to the public too!!  

It became a waiting game and I was back to no exercise again!!   

At the beginning of July they opened the beaches so we were able to return to our little secluded part of the beach we go to and back to snorkelling....fabulous!! The swimming pools were allowed to open as from mid July ...perfect......I was able to get back to swimming practically daily!!   Nonetheless the confinement had taken its toll and I had put on  **** kilos...groan!!!   

The heat has lingered more this year and it is taking me longer to get back to walking on a regular basis! There are also impediments which I find difficult to describe because they are from within me and I don't understand the way I am feeling at present. When I worked I was very very active and managed to walk a lot, to work and in my spare time...I felt good!! Now,I feel lethargic, lacking in motivation and very little get up and go. I feel I have no purpose ..no objectives...housework and such doesn't really fill me!!.  I need to work this out for myself...this change in my life and status!!    Everything seems to be an effort and walking is one of them!!  

 I hope I will not bore you too much but to motivate me and give me purpose from now on I shall be posting about my walks as well. 😊   The challenge will be trying to find something of interest to post about while I walk here in the city.

Alicante City,Spain

 

 

Have a great weekend

Keep well

Amanda :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

I remember when...

 

....an in between other thoughts post ......

 

I know we don't always want to remember but as  Betsy at The simple life of a Queen says in her comments below ... "so many memories. Some good, and some weren't so good but they all had a part in shaping who I am today." exactly that..... they shape us!! 

 

 

I remember:

when Dad would go to his Buff meeting at the British Legion and bring me back coke and crisps. I always threw the coke down the drain but scoffed the crisps!! I hated and hate coke!

 

 

when Smith crisps had a little twist of salt in blue paper in the pack so you could sprinkle it over your crisps.  
 

 I think they were better then!

 

 when the WC was in the garden and we had to carry a torch and roll of toilet paper with us. I was scared stiff of it at night and would sometimes leave my undies behind!

 

I blogged about the outdoor loo a few years back....if you want to read the gruesome story go here !

 

 

 

Not my Mum!!!

 

when Mum's washing machine only washed and did not rinse and she used a mangle in the yard to wring out the excess water and I had to stand at the other end to catch the clothes and shake them out and hang them on the line.  

Very painful in winter!

 

 

 

 

 

 

when we had weekly baths in the big tin bath in front of the kitchen fire, usually in twos.

 when there was a little bottle of milk for each child every morning during the school break

when we collected conkers (Horse chestnuts)from the woods,skewered them and thread a strong cord through the conker to play conkers in the school yard.

when I saw the Beatles filming  a part of the film a "Hard's day night"  at the old railway station in my town. Nobody could get into the station it was blocked by a mass of hysterical girls so my older sisters dragged me across the fields and marsh to get in. I was 10 years old. March 1964

 

when Princess Anne married Captain Mark Philips in November 1973 and we were given time off from work at Ministry of Education in County Hall,London to see her pass in the royal carriage across Westminster Bridge. 

 

 

 

when I discovered in the Canary Islands, the very first day there, that there was no tap water! Water supply in the Canary Islands was based on desalination and I had to wait until the end of the week for the water lorry to come and fill up the tank on the roof to have a week's water supply.

 

 

 

when we were still living in the Canary Islands, on Nov 20 1975 Generalissimo Franco died. The streets were empty,there was nothing on the TV except religious music and prayers for the deceased,the churches were full and women whispering in the bakers about what would happen next.

 

when we were stopped in Alicante by a TANK  during the curfew on the night of 23 February 1981 when Colonel Antonio Tejero lead an armed coup de'état against the Spanish government.  

When I bought my first computer in 1985; an Amstrad CPC464 green screen monitor with key board and tape deck. I thought it was top notch...no Wi-Fi of course!! 

When I travelled to Australia in 2009 on my own to visit my sister who I hadn't seen in 11 years. After the initial shock and marvel of flying over some tiny dots which were the islands of Indonesia I remember thinking the world isn't such a big place after all!!

 

and you?

 

 

Have a great weekend 

 

 Keep well

Amanda 😊

LoLo the new arrival.

 

 

 

 

 Lets start at the beginning  

a very good place to start.....yes.. I am a fan of the Sound of Music.

 

 

 

 

The new arrival is finally here!! Let me present to you SBB Lorenzo II from the Worldwide renown free range breed of Spanish Bravo Bulls. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His Dad,who you can see in the photo below, is the Great Lorenzo I so as his first born he becomes Lorenzo II .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 ....his Mum calls him LoLo! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His Mum and Dad are so very pleased that as he is an exceptionally rare blue breed of Toro Bravo he will never have to go into the bull ring but happily he will become a RAOCK special! LoLo will be transported first class to the UK to live out his days with a new friend and a loving family.

 

 

For those of you who are visiting my blog and this post for the first time RAOCK is the acronym for Random Act of Crochet kindness. This is a facebook worldwide public group that has become extremely popular over this last year and has now over 16,800 followers. It is really amazing how such little acts of kindness and the smiles they produce can brighten people's lives. 

Olivia the creator of this group says:

 "This is a group for anyone that wants to share an act of kindness, it's mainly for crochet but if there is anyone that has gone out of their way to make another person smile, I want to hear about it! Let's build a community of kind acts, and make the world a bit lighter and brighter!"

 

 

Sunday mornings

Last Sunday week we went further afield up into the mountains above Benidorm to the picturesque towns of La Nucia and Polop de la Marina. It is really a lovely area of the Alicante province and we particularly like the markets that are held every Sunday there. 

 

Polop de la Marina

We like to go first to the home grown fruit and vegetable part of the market and stock up. The products are cheaper and of much better quality than down in Alicante city. We also like to buy the local honey and the sausages that La Nucia are famous for:

 

Morcilla black,white and red sausage

 

I prefer the red sausages myself but Sr P likes all of them. I usually use the Morcilla black to make lentils stew.

 

This area is surrounded by the beautiful Aitana mountain range and as it was such a wonderful sunny day I took a few photos.

These photos are particularly for Kathy at Compassion knit. As you can see Kathy it is greener...not Wisconsin green but Mediterranean green.😁

 

 

 

 

Hello to my new follower! 

Welcome to Crafty in the Med my personal blog where I share my love of craft, particularly crochet and anecdotes from my daily happenings living here in Alicante,Spain.     Please feel free to comment.😊😊😊

 

 

Have a great week 

 keep well and take care

Amanda :-)  

 

 

No you cannot!!

 

 

Hello to my new follower! Welcome to Crafty in the Med my personal blog where I share my love of craft, particularly crochet and anecdotes from my daily life living here in Alicante,Spain.                    Please feel free to comment.

 

We haven't been able to get to the beach these last three Sundays. I so miss my swimming and doing a bit of snorkeling. The sea is such a healer and it makes all the aches and pains in my legs just disappear. My doctor actually prescribed swimming as one of the best all round exercises for RLS and for lots of aches and pains. He also told me that swimming in the sea was by far the best option.                                            

As I mentioned in my last post Sr P has an ear infection and he has been prescribed antibiotics to deal with the infection; the doctor told him the beach was off limits until the infection had gone.  

 

Google image

 

Sr P really loves his snorkeling he has done it all his life as he was born right in front of the sea and I mean as in.... five minutes from his parents house ... across the sand and into the sea.

 

 

 

 

Google image

 

The first Sunday he started the treatment he only gets all his gear ready in the morning for us to go snorkeling and to the beach. 

 

 

 

                                        

I swear Sr P sees himself as a 70 year old superman!!!

 

He is in fact in very good health and has generally no problems at all. He weighs the same as when he was 20 years old when I first met him and he eats whatever he likes and does not put on weight!!!!!                                                                     (I assure you that really bugs me......fresh air alone makes me put on weight!! ).   

 

 

I immediately put all the gear back in the cupboard and reminded him what the doctor prescribed.              

I am sure you can imagine that did not go down well.                                                                                     

He did throw a bit of a wobbly about it (I of course used the in one ear out the other strategy)  I believe I heard vaguely as he was mumbling, stamping from room to room and slamming the bedroom door something about about doctors exaggerate,grown man being told what to do and sea water is better than antibiotics, while he let off steam.   Meanwhile I made him a lemon cake, which he is partial to for later and got changed picked up the car keys popped into the bedroom and asked him if he was ready.            We spent the morning strolling through the port on to the Santa Maria Church and the old quarter (Sr P's neighbourhood) where we had a chat with some old friends sat outside a cafe having tapas.   

 

Santa Maria Church Alicante City

Santa Maria Church Alicante City. Above main entrance.

 

                                            

 

If you want to know more about the church pop over to Here for the post I wrote about the hidden tunnel.

A very enjoyable morning!! 

You see he knew I was right but he was not going to let it go without a bit of a rant!  

I dedicate this to all the wives/partners of  70 yr old supermen out there in blog land. 😀

Bloggers News

In case you haven't noticed Paula at The Snail Garden has returned to blogland and has posted a beautiful and interesting post called "August Outings".

Kathy at Hummingbird Woodland Studio has,due to tech problems, retired her blog and started a new one called My Artistic Endeavours At The Lake

 

RAOCKs

I just felt like doing some crochet doodling when I made this RAOCK months ago.                        

I had no real plan in mind at that time but this is what my hook produced. A key tassel and I'd say that face and head-dress is pure carnival. 

What do you think? Does it remind you of something else?  

I used a Nº 2.00 hook for this make and Katia Brisa silky cotton but I don't think I will use that thread again! The threads split up far too easily and too often. A choice of fabulous colours though!!

 

 

 Have a good week 

Keep well 

Amanda :-)

 

 

 

 

 

Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness

 

Indeed I do...feel gratitude that is!   I just feel I need to say thank you for your blog friendship! You may say "Why?"  How can I describe it I'd say it produces a feeling of belonging! I had this feeling in blogland before but being away from my blog for so long I lost it!  I am feeling it again and it is so good that I have found it!  When I receive comments on my blog or of course replies to comments I have posted or see my blog there in your blog roll I feel I am belonging . Perhaps I can simplify what I am trying to say.  It is a good sensation and it makes me happy.

  

 

 

Checking the mountains are still there!

 When the heat here in Alicante decreases and Autumn starts to bring in the cooler weather we usually take more Sunday trips up into the mountains. We start this usually at the beginning of November but Sr P has had some ear trouble recently, He is is on the mend but meanwhile he isn't allowed to go snorkeling or swimming so the beach is off limits for a little while. As we have had some showers this last week we thought we go and check out one of our favourite places in the mountains which is not too far away from the city. 

 

I t was really good to see that the countryside was not looking so dry and parched. The recent rains had brought back some colour to the terrain.  I took this photo on our way up to the Maigmó Greenway  (Via Verde) in the Maigmó mountains. The Greenway was originally a railway track from Alicante to Alcoy that was built in the 1920s which never actually entered into service.    The track has been reconditioned into a public trail for hikers and cyclists and covers approximately 22 kilometres from Agost  up to the Maigmó pass and back down the other side of the mountain.

 

 

 

  Our objective was not to walk the Greenway this time but to walk along the Drovers trail under the old railway bridge(now part of the Greenway) which borders some olive and almond fields on the slopes of the mountain croplands.  Our goal.....ALMONDS!!  Unfortunately the almond harvesting was at the beginning of September and if you want to pick windfalls one needs to be here at least two days after the harvest so we are a bit late and consequently there were not a lot of windfalls.                                         

 One should not stray from the Drovers trail at all and cannot enter the fields and pick from the trees as they are  private property even though there are no fences. It would be considered stealing!  Nonetheless, there is a rogue almond tree on the pathway which is fair game and there are always some windfalls too.     We only take sufficient to have a little snack and at times Sr P carries a bota de vino with him to have a swig of wine as we munch the almonds!! 

 

Beginning of Drovers Trail

 

 That is Sr P picking up the windfalls. He is right on the edge of the trail....tch!!! The rogue almond tree on the right has been picked clean. However we picked up enough for a snack and a few to take home to make up almond sauce to add to a chicken dish.

 

Lovely!!!

 

Now I have to talk about being naughty...

 

 

 

 .....not totally my fault by the way because this Miss has been messing about with that magical stuff she sprinkles around .......    I was so tempted when I saw these at half price I had to buy them....

 

 

By the way I still go to the local haberdashery which I posted about in 2012 (doesn't seem that long ago!) and you can read about it here . I am trying to frequent more the small local shops who are having such a difficult time! 

 

 

 RAOCKs:

 

 

 I made this in April during lockdown for the Random Acts of Crochet Kindness group. I used a free pattern I found on the webpage Thoresby Cottage.   I did tweak it a bit!  Great stash buster!

 

 

 

Many thanks for all your generous comments on my last post Mandala Mirror. I was surprised to receive an offer to buy it but regretfully I had to refuse it as I do not sell my makes.                                                  It also looks very nice on my wall!  🌸🌸🌸

 

 

 

 

Stay safe everyone.    

 

Amanda :-)